Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 5, Tigers 1

The White Sox tame the Tigers two days in a row. Dylan Cease might not have had his best outing tonight, but the bats woke up, and the Tigers aren’t great. Plus, Cease must have a voodoo doll of that poor Tigs mascot — he extended his franchise-record win streak to begin a career against a single franchise from 9-0 to 10-0.

Let’s break down the win with some more stats.

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The Starters

Dylan Cease battled it out against the Tigers. Typically, Cease is terrific against Detroit, but his command was off this evening. His poor decision to attempt a pickoff throw to second caused a run to come in, and he allowed seven hits. But overall, with the eight strikeouts and ability to get out of jams he created for himself, Cease ended up on top as the better pitcher.

Cease’s 108-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Drew Hutchison was on a short leash after giving up five hits, two walks, and two runs by the fourth inning. His ERA was already on the higher side, so this was expected.

Hutchison’s 62-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

With bases loaded and two out in the first, the White Sox had the chance to take an early lead. Unfortunately, it was Leury García’s turn to hit. Leroy stepped up to the plate and struck out swinging under 2.88 LI tension.

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Pressure Cooker

El Mago didn’t have his magic tonight, as he struck out twice in just four plate appearances. You’ve got five more years of this to come, Motown, enjoy. Javier Báez ended with a pLI of 1.56.

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Top Play

Yoán Moncada saved the day with his fifth-inning double. Andrew Vaughn scored and Luis Robert advanced to third, giving the White Sox the lead. Moncada’s double had a WPA of .144.

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Top Performer

We’ve got a virtual tie, so in the giddiness of a win, let’s declare Luis Robert (.175 WPA) and Andrew Vaughn .185 WPA) winners. Both hitters put on a clinic with hits and runs batted in.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: AJ Pollock was mashing balls today, with the top two of the game. But the mashingest was a sixth-inning double, coming off of the bat at 107.4 mph.

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Weakest contact: Reese McGuire managed to get a single in the eighth on a ball that was only hit at 41.9 mph.

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Luckiest hit: That McGuire single only had an xBA of .140.

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Toughest out: Luis Robert lined out to shortstop with runners at the corners in the eighth inning. It looked like he would bring at least Danny Mendick home, but alas, the inning ended. Robert’s xBA was .760.

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Longest hit: Not only was AJ Pollock’s bat on fire, but he was also sending balls to the wall. His sixth-inning double traveled 357 feet.

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Magic Number: 5

Slotting in as DH, Andrew Vaughn went 5-for-5 tonight. In the last 13 games, Vaughn has raised his batting average from .267 to .308.

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Glossary

Hard-hit is any ball off the bat at 95 mph or more
LI measures pressure per play
pLI measures total pressure faced in-game
Whiff a swing-and-miss
WPA win probability added measures contributions to the win
xBA expected batting average

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Honestly, no one had a bad enough game to be considered a Cold Cat. Sorry for disappointing you.